Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67C—CLEANING, FILLING WITH LIQUIDS OR SEMILIQUIDS, OR EMPTYING, OF BOTTLES, JARS, CANS, CASKS, BARRELS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; FUNNELS
  • B67C7/00—Concurrent cleaning, filling, and closing of bottles; Processes or devices for at least two of these operations
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67C—CLEANING, FILLING WITH LIQUIDS OR SEMILIQUIDS, OR EMPTYING, OF BOTTLES, JARS, CANS, CASKS, BARRELS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; FUNNELS
  • B67C7/00—Concurrent cleaning, filling, and closing of bottles; Processes or devices for at least two of these operations
  • B67C7/0006—Conveying; Synchronising
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67B—APPLYING CLOSURE MEMBERS TO BOTTLES JARS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; OPENING CLOSED CONTAINERS
  • B67B3/00—Closing bottles, jars or similar containers by applying caps
  • B67B3/02—Closing bottles, jars or similar containers by applying caps by applying flanged caps, e.g. crown caps, and securing by deformation of flanges
  • B67B3/06—Feeding caps to capping heads
  • B67B3/062—Feeding caps to capping heads from a magazine

Definitions

• the present invention relates to improvements made to installations for packaging a product in containers closed by a stopper and comprising in particular a filler capable of filling receptacles received empty and a capper supplied with stoppers for closing filled receptacles.
• a filler capable of filling receptacles received empty
• a capper supplied with stoppers for closing filled receptacles.
• thermoplastic material PHT for example
• PET thermoplastic material
• an incident occurring in the supply of plugs requires, for the troubleshooting operation, the shutdown of the entire installation.
• the preforms being heated in the oven and being blown in the molds are then lost; moreover, in view of the very high temperatures and the thermal inertias, the preforms present in the furnace and the blow molds risk melting and / or sticking to the walls of the molds, so that the restarting of the installation must be preceded by inspection and cleaning.
• the object of the invention is therefore to propose an improvement in the supply of stoppers capable of avoiding the abovementioned drawbacks and making it less time-consuming and less costly, in all its aspects, to shut down an installation following a plug feeding incident.
• an installation as mentioned in the preamble is essentially characterized, being arranged in accordance with the invention, in that it further comprises, upstream of the capper, a device for dynamically storing corks capable of driving the plugs with a predetermined pitch and without discontinuity, the number of plugs present simultaneously in said storage device being at least equal to the number of containers present in a predetermined portion of the installation, means for controlling the supply of plugs being provided upstream of the dynamic storage device and being arranged to control a container supply device located upstream, preferably at the inlet, of the said predetermined portion of the installation, which is why any container engaged in the predetermined portion of the installation corresponds to a plug present in the dynamic storage of stoppers supplying the capper and, in the event of an incident of supply of stoppers upstream of the dynamic storage device, the supply of said predetermined portion of the installation with containers is controlled while keeping the terminal part of the installation at least until the incident is cleared.
• the feeding of the containers is controlled by interrupting the feeding of the containers upstream until the incident is acknowledged; alternatively, instead of interrupting this supply, the supply of plugs is regulated by carrying out a controlled sliding or offset with respect to the containers, in particular when the offset relates to a small number (one or two for example) of plugs.
• the predetermined portion of the installation comprises at least the filler and the capacity of the cork storage device is at least equal to the number of containers present simultaneously between the inlet of the filler and the entrance to the capper.
• the invention applies to an on-line installation arranged for the packaging of a product in containers of thermoplastic material (for example PET) and comprising in particular, upstream of the filler, a unit preform feed, a preform heating oven and a blower to produce containers from heated preforms; in this case, the aforementioned predetermined portion of the installation comprises at least the preform heating oven and the capacity of the plug storage device is at least equal to the number of preforms simultaneously present in the oven.
• thermoplastic material for example PET
• said predetermined portion of the installation further comprises at least the blower and that the capacity of the plug storage device is at least equal to the number of containers (preforms, blanks or finished containers) present between the inlet of the oven and the outlet of the snowblower.
• said predetermined portion of the installation may further include the filler and the capper and for the capacity of the cork storage device to be at least equal to the number of receptacles (preforms, blanks or finished receptacles empty or filled) present between the inlet of the oven and the inlet of the capper.
• the means for controlling the supply of stoppers are arranged to regulate the supply of stoppers in the event of an incident in the supply of the containers (preforms, blanks, or finished or filled containers), for example either by blocking the supply of stoppers, or by causing the stoppers to slide relative to the containers.
• the dynamic storage device of plugs can in principle be arranged in any suitable manner, it is however particularly desirable that it extends approximately vertically so as to occupy a minimum surface in vertical projection and not to cause an indiscriminate increase in the general dimensions of the installation.
• the invention also relates to a particular advantageous arrangement of a device for dynamic storage of a predetermined number of plugs intended for the closure of filled containers at the parade, this device being intended to be used in particular in an installation as mentioned in the preceding paragraph and comprising:
• transport means moving the plugs on a trajectory having a length which depends on the aforementioned predetermined number of plugs
• Such a device arranged according to the invention, is essentially characterized in that the transport means comprise:
• a barrel rotating around a vertical axis and having, on its peripheral face, a multiplicity of parallel vertical recesses, and
• a plug buffer tank having a capacity which can be very high, depending on the diameter of the barrel and the number of vertical recesses present on the periphery thereof. ci, and especially, for a given diameter of the barrel, function of the height of this one.
• a reservoir with a very high capacity although occupying little space in vertical projection and therefore not very bulky.
• Its structure is simple and uses common mechanical parts. Its drive, which must be synchronized with that of the plugging device and the rest of the installation, may not require a specific motorization and can be obtained by a return of traditional movement (chain, belt, ).
• FIG. 1 is a very simplified diagram of a filling / capping installation arranged in accordance with the invention using a device for dynamic storage of plugs;
• FIG. 2 is a very simplified diagram of a heating / blowing / filling / capping installation arranged in accordance with the invention using a device for dynamic storage of plugs; and - Figures 3 and 4 are respectively side and top views of a dynamic plug storage device arranged in accordance with the invention.
• FIG. 1 there is shown, very schematically, the basic arrangement of an installation designed according to the invention for the packaging of a product, in particular a liquid or flowing product, in containers - such as bottles, flasks, cans, etc. - with a neck and closed by a stopper.
• This installation notably includes for this purpose a filling machine 1 suitable for filling receptacles which are empty (arrow 2) and to which is added a capper 3 supplied with plugs (arrow 4) for closing the filled containers which are then evacuated (arrow 5).
• a device 6 for dynamic storage of corks which is capable of driving the corks towards the corker one after the other with a predetermined pitch and without discontinuity.
• the number of plugs present simultaneously in the storage device 6 is at least equal to the number of containers present in a predetermined portion of the installation: this predetermined portion may include at least any functional unit 7 of the installation located on the line d feeding containers upstream of the filler 1, and may also include the filler 1 itself; the predetermined portion 7 is at the very least constituted by the means for introducing the containers into the filler 1, but a concrete example will be given later with reference to FIG. 2.
• control means 8 Upstream, and preferably at the entry of the storage device 6, are provided control means 8 arranged to control the supply of corks and detect any anomaly in the supply of corks (absence of a cork, tangled corks, caps in the inverted position, ).
• the control means 8 are connected to a management unit 9 which in particular controls a device 10 for controlling and detecting the supply of containers to the predetermined portion 7 of the installation (operating control of the transporter for example): of a plug feeding incident detected by the means 8, the unit 9 controls (for example blocks) the feeding of containers until the feeding incident is acknowledged. tion, by controlling the device 10 appropriately.
• the filler 1 continues at the same time to operate so as to exhaust all the receptacles located, at the time of blocking the chain at 10, in the predetermined portion 7 of the installation. All these filled containers can be closed with the stock of plugs which is present in the dynamic storage device 6.
• the supply of containers is stopped in order to remedy the lack of supply of plugs therefore without loss of the product to be packaged, without loss of containers, and without risk of damage to the installation as will be explained below. .
• the aforementioned predetermined portion 7 of the installation comprises the filling machine 1: the capacity of the storage device 6 is then at least equal to the number of containers present simultaneously between the inlet of the filler and the entrance to the capper.
• the detection at 8 of a plug feeding anomaly causes the feeding of containers at the inlet to the filling machine to stop.
• thermoplastic material for example made of PET
• This installation then notably includes, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a unit 11 for supplying preforms, an oven 12 for heating preforms and a blower 13 for producing, by blowing or stretch-blowing hot preforms in molds, finished containers which are then conveyed to the filler 1, with which is associated a corker 3 supplied with corks through a device 6 for dynamic cork storage in accordance with the diagram in FIG. 1.
• the aforementioned predetermined portion of the installation can comprise at least the preform heating furnace 12: the capacity in plugs of the storage device 6 is then at least equal to the number of containers (here heated preforms) present simultaneously in the oven.
• the detection at 8 of a plug supply anomaly causes the supply of preforms to be stopped at 10 at the inlet to the furnace 12. However, the entire part of the installation located downstream of the stop device 10 continues to operate until all heated preforms are removed from the oven 12.
• the predetermined portion of the installation simultaneously includes the oven 12 and the blower 13 as shown schematically in 7b in FIG. 2, and that the capacity of the storage device 6 is at least equal to the number of containers (preforms, blanks or finished containers) present simultaneously between the inlet of the oven 12 and the outlet of the blower 13.
• the containers are closed immediately after filling; if the filling has not followed up quickly, the containers and their contents must be discarded.
• the installation it is desirable to arrange the installation so that the aforementioned predetermined portion simultaneously includes the oven 12, the blower 13, the filler 1 and the capper 3 as shown schematically in 7ç_ in Figure 2 and that the capacity of the storage device 6 is at least equal to the number of containers (preforms, blanks and containers completed empty or filled) located between the inlet of the oven 12 and the inlet of the capper 3.
• the device for storing plugs which comes from 'be described can also be arranged to manage the supply of corks in the event of an incident in the supply of containers: for this purpose, the above device 10, located upstream of the predetermined portion 7 of the installation, is arranged to detect the receptacles supplied and transmit the information to one management unit 9 so that the latter appropriately controls the device 8 arranged in addition, for its part, to manage the supply of plugs to the inlet of the storage device 6: either the unit 9 controls the device 8 to stop the arrival of the plugs in the storage device 6 thanks to the implementation of means, an example of which will be given later in the context of the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG.
• the device for dynamic storage of stoppers can be of any type capable of satisfying the requirements mentioned above.
• the number of caps which it is brought to contain dynamically can be very high: in the last aforementioned case, the number of caps to be held in reserve in correspondence with the number of containers present in the portion 7ç_ of the installation can be very large and reach for example several hundred. Under these conditions, a device for dynamic storage of plugs having a horizontal extension alone would be very bulky and therefore costly in terms of floor space occupied.
• the dynamic storage device 6 comprises means for supplying plugs constituted in particular by a slide 14 for supplying plugs in line one after the other from a bulk supply and a disentangling unit, positioning (opening up or preferably opening down) and queuing (not shown).
• gripping means 15 grip the plugs one by one, keeping them apart from one another by a predetermined pitch, to bring them to the next device.
• the gripping means 15 comprise a rotating wheel 16 with a vertical axis 17 which is peripherally provided with a multipli city of notches 18.
• the gripping means 15 supply the dynamic storage device proper or plug buffer reserve designated as a whole by the reference 20; this device comprises a vertical central barrel 21 and a peripheral helical track 22.
• the central barrel 21 is arranged vertically and provided with a vertical rotation shaft 23.
• the fixed helical track 22 closely surrounds the barrel 21 by winding over the entire height thereof and its outer edge is provided with a flange 25 retaining and guiding the plugs.
• the conjunction of the vertical recesses 24 of the barrel 21 and of the helical track 22 defines a multiplicity of fugitive housings 26 with double rotating and vertically sliding mobility, which are capable of each housing a plug and driving the plugs from one end to the other. other of the helical track 22.
• the number of these housings 26 is a function of the diameter of the barrel 21, the number of vertical recesses 24 on its external face, the winding pitch of the helical track 22 and the height of the device. It will be noted in particular that, for a given bulk in vertical projection and all other things being equal, the capacity of the device can be modulated by varying its height and / or the pitch of the helical track.
• the end of the aforementioned guide 19 extends, beyond the contour of the wheel 16, to the interior of the helical track 22 opposite the start of the rim 25 thereof, so that at this location the plugs are forced to engage between the guide 19 and the flange 25 in order to leave the wheel 16 and engage on the track 22.
• the pitch of spacing of the notches 18 of the wheel 16 and the spacing pitch of the vertical recesses 24 of the barrel 21 are equal, and the wheel 16 and the barrel 21 rotate in synchronism so that all the notches 18 of the wheel 16 loaded with plugs respective discharge successively into all the housings 26 defined by the recesses 24 of the barrel 21.
• the plugs are gripped by gripping means 27, which can be analogous to the means 15 arranged at the head of the device, and constituted by a wheel 28 with notches 29 rotating around a vertical axis 30, this wheel being accompanied by a guide 31 in an arc.
• the axes 17, 23 and 30 are driven in synchronism, not only with one another, but also with the other members of the installation. Therefore, there is no need to provide a specific motorization for the dynamic storage device 6 and one drive is provided by a system of belts, chains or the like, designated at 32 in Figure 3, or alternatively we put implement several motor means slaved to each other in particular when it is desired to cause a slip between the plugs and container feeds as mentioned above in the event of a container feed incident.
• the arrangement of the device 20 offers the advantage of individualizing the locations occupied by the successive plugs, and therefore ensuring that all of the housings 26 being occupied, the device effectively contains the number of plugs necessary for supplying all the containers present at a given time in the determined portion 7 of the installation. In addition, it is possible, if necessary, to carry out a visual check to ensure that all the housings 26 are actually occupied.
• this device and the command associated with it, it is possible to anticipate the effects of an anomaly in the supply of corks, and to ensure that a shutdown of the installation necessary to deal with this anomaly does not otherwise cause other adverse effects increasing the cost of the incident.
• the management unit 9 is capable of causing the stopping of the supply of plugs to the wheel 16: for this purpose, there is either a door (such as a locking finger) at the upstream end of the guide 19, ie, as shown in FIG. 4, a section 33 of the guide which can deviate radially from the periphery of the wheel under the action of a member of drive 34 controlled by a motor 35 placed under the dependent of the management unit 9, whereby the plugs are ejected by the guide section 33 in the open position.
• a door such as a locking finger

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
• Filling Of Jars Or Cans And Processes For Cleaning And Sealing Jars (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Supplying Of Containers To The Packaging Station (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)
• Sealing Of Jars (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)
• Closing Of Containers (AREA)
• Thermally Insulated Containers For Foods (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Priority Applications (10)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9508811

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (16)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (14)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1997
  • 1997-07-03 FR FR9708426A patent/FR2765566B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1998
  • 1998-07-01 BR BR9810391-1A patent/BR9810391A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-07-01 AU AU84452/98A patent/AU751992B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1998-07-01 KR KR1019997011830A patent/KR20010020466A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-07-01 PT PT98935076T patent/PT993417E/pt unknown
  • 1998-07-01 DK DK98935076T patent/DK0993417T3/da active
  • 1998-07-01 US US09/446,986 patent/US6341469B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-07-01 EP EP98935076A patent/EP0993417B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 JP JP50653699A patent/JP2002507177A/ja active Pending
  • 1998-07-01 WO PCT/FR1998/001409 patent/WO1999001375A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-07-01 CA CA002295845A patent/CA2295845C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-07-01 AT AT98935076T patent/ATE201385T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-07-01 DE DE69800834T patent/DE69800834T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 CN CN98805815A patent/CN1106339C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-07-01 ES ES98935076T patent/ES2159188T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2001
  • 2001-07-11 GR GR20010401046T patent/GR3036198T3/el not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2001-11-27 US US09/993,508 patent/US6401973B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (5)

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